PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 201
BETTER UTAH CRITICIZES HATCH FOR “SLUT-SHAMING” TWEET
Salt Lake City, UT – Today, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch tweeted excerpts of a sworn statement from Utah resident Dennis Ketterer, attempting to discredit Julie Swetnick’s account accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.
Katie Matheson, communications director for Alliance for a Better Utah, issued the following statement in response:
“For all his hand-wringing over political tribalism, Senator Hatch has repeatedly chosen to put his own partisan agenda above the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. Considering Swetnick has not even been granted an interview with the FBI, it is befuddling why Hatch has chosen to publicly smear her character in this way. Sharing salacious details about Swetnick’s personal life on Twitter is a blatant “slut-shaming” attempt to discredit her character in the court of public opinion. Even if all of Ketterer’s statements about Swetnick are accurate, they in no way diminish the severity or credibility of Swetnick’s allegations.”
According to the Utah Department of Health, one in three women will experience sexual violence in their lifetime. Additionally, rape occurs at a higher rate in Utah than the rest of the nation.
“Spreading a message that Kavanaugh’s accusers are lying–while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of claims against Kavanaugh–signals to survivors of sexual assault that their experiences are immaterial in deciding who holds power in this country. We would hope Hatch would be more concerned with getting at the truth than with discrediting women accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.”
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Alliance for a Better Utah is a good government advocacy and watchdog organization based in Salt Lake City. The organization works to improve the lives of all Utahns by ensuring balance, transparency, and accountability in Utah politics, policy, and government. More information at www.betterutah.org.